1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the art of wood veneering. More particularly, apparatus and process are disclosed for fabricating wide, integral panels from numerous narrow veneer strips.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Veneering is a craft of cladding the surface of a substrate with thin sheets of natural wood; usually of less than 1/16 inch thickness. Such veneer sheets are secured to the substrate surface adhesively.
The usual objective of veneering is to provide the veneered article with the visual texture and feel of one fabricated from a solid or integral piece of the veneer wood without the economic burden frequently associated with many aesthetically desirable wood species. Alternatively, the objective may be to give metallic structure a wood construction appearance.
In many cases, aesthetically desirable wood species have natural growth characteristics that preclude the production of wide, clear-grain boards from the species. Accordingly, a large article, such as a table top, produced from an aesthetic species, even of solid wood construction, must be fabricated by a laminated assembly of relatively small, solid wood strips. Practiced artistically, the craft of veneering includes discrete grain matching among these constituent strips to create intricate surface patterns.
Traditionally, the veneer artist has matched the grain of thin wood sheets or strips, one at a time, directly onto the substrate surface, to simulate the visual result of a solid laminate: a slow and painstaking process. Prior art efforts to commercially simulate this visual result have produced machines which mechanically adhere veneer strips or sheets together along longitudinal edges to create wide, composite sheets that are quickly and efficiently laid upon the entirety of a large, flat area substrate surface and secured by contact or hot melt adhesive.
Production of such wide sheets by one commercial process includes the bundled assembly of presized, 6 to 8 foot lengths of veneer strips. Under clamp pressure, with a horizontal sheet plane, a catalyzed urea resin adhesive is sprayed or rolled upon the vertical plane of the compacted sheet edges. After the adhesive has air dried, the bundle is disassembled. Finally, the individual veneer strips are reassembled in a single plane by heat curing edge-to-edge joints under simultaneous compressive stress.
Although the foregoing process functions reasonably well, given the fact that considerable individual artistry and discretion remains, the edge adhesive application step is less than satisfactory. Due to poor edge alignment in the vertical plane when clamped, adhesive is resultantly applied to small portions of the veneer face. If the adhesive is sprayed, the overspray is a source of atmospheric contamination and health hazard. If the adhesive is rolled on, the coating is frequently irregular and insufficient in large areas.
It is an object of the present invention, therefore, to provide an apparatus for quickly aligning and securing in the same plane, one longitudinal edge of each veneer strip in an operational batch.
Another object of the invention is to provide the plane of veneer strip edges with a uniformly applied adhesive coating of adequate and regulated thickness.